I found that there was not one specific event that affected my learning and experience as a teacher. Instead, I reached a new level of understanding education and my vision as an educator simply through student teaching at two very different schools.
The first school I was at was a German-English immersion charter school, where money and parental support was abundant. While there was little standardized testing, teachers and students were held to incredibly high expectations when it came to academics. My next placement was located in a low-income area of Imperial Beach. This school consisted primarily of Spanish-speaking students who received free breakfast and lunch each day. The school was also on program improvement, which led to an enormous emphasis on standardized testing.
Having these two experiences, both in first grade, reminded me daily that the reason I went into education in the first place was to instill a passion for learning, regardless of a student's socioeconomic status or background. Not only do I want to teach students in order to help them succeed academically, but I want to play a guiding and nurturing role in their lives.
I recognized that many students lack a motivating force with regard to education. My vision as a teacher is to help students experience things they may never experience, and provide them with a safe place with which to do so. Being an educator requires wearing many different hats at the same time, and this is something I look forward to. While the actual educating aspect of teaching is important, I realized that offering more to a student who may need it is the driving force behind my desire to be an educator.
